One on one support for adults dealing with cancer

A family focus on hope.

It’s not a stretch to say that helping is in Charles McGivney Junior’s DNA. In fact, to ask him or his wife Randi, their recognition at this year’s Chrysalis Gala is as much about his father, Chuck Sr., as it is about them.

“We first met Chuck and Randi through his father, Chuck McGivney, Sr.,” Executive Director Wanda Diak recalls. “Chuck Sr. was trained as a Support Volunteer in 2007 and he has been helping ever since, providing comfort to patients and caregivers going through the ordeal of lung cancer diagnosis and treatment. He has had some of the most difficult cases brought to him and he keeps offering to help.”

Diagnosed with Stage 3 non-small cell lung cancer in 2004, Chuck Sr. completed treatment and began helping others almost immediately as a volunteer with the American Cancer Society. When his chapter of ACS closed, their executive director pointed Chuck Sr. in our direction. And he’s never looked back. In his time as a Support Volunteer, he has been matched with 137 patients and family members facing lung cancer, creating hope and providing comfort through hundreds of conversations. He was honored with the Cancer Hope Network Flame of Courage Award in 2010. “He is promptly available to patients for that first phone call, and he diligently follows through, checking in after a scan or a chemotherapy treatment, providing local resources he has researched or just calling with a friendly hello.”

As he became involved with CHN, Chuck Sr. soon marshaled his family to the cause. Chuck Jr. joined the CHN board in 2014 and began their efforts to raise funds and awareness. “Chuck recognizes how fortunate he is, and he can’t help but share that good fortune with others,” Diak said.

Their goal is simple, but profound: to provide temporary help that creates permanent change. Nothing is Impossible provides small grants to Northern New Jersey individuals who are facing a short-term crisis – underwriting temporary shelter for a MS Patient facing homelessness, providing in-home nursing care for a father of 8 while he recovered from a stroke, paying travel expenses for a father as his daughter battled cancer and more.

“It’s easy to see that Chuck follows in his father’s footsteps,” Diak continued. “He and Randi have such big hearts to recognize that there are many ways to help others facing cancer or other catastrophes. Their efforts on behalf of CHN and through Nothing Is Impossible are nothing short of remarkable.”

“Randi and I are honored to receive the Philanthropic Leadership Award,” Chuck said. “Cancer Hope Network has helped my father make his life after lung cancer more meaningful. We’re proud to join him in creating hope as a family.